Methods, Systems and Computer Program Products for Identifying Descriptors for an Image

1. A method for automatically providing descriptors for images to a user, the method comprising: providing an image descriptor database having a plurality of image feature vectors, each of the plurality of image feature vectors having an associated descriptor; assigning a specificity value to each of the descriptors, wherein the specificity value comprises an estimation of a degree of description specificity; determining a first image feature vector for a first image; comparing the first image feature vector with the plurality of image vectors in the image descriptor database; identifying one or more descriptors for the first image vector based on the comparison of the first image feature vector with the plurality of image vectors and the specificity value of the corresponding descriptor; comparing image feature vectors in the database that have a selected associated descriptor in common to determine an estimated degree of similarity between the image feature vectors; and assigning the specificity value to the selected descriptor responsive to the estimated degree of similarity, wherein the image feature vector comprises image pixel data and/or characteristics determined by image recognition techniques.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the image feature vector comprises a geographic location of the image, a time stamp, and/or a user identifier.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein providing an image descriptor database comprises: receiving image data including the plurality of image feature vectors and corresponding descriptors from a plurality of users; populating the image descriptor database with the plurality of image feature vectors from the image data and the corresponding descriptors.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising displaying the descriptors corresponding to the identified image feature vectors to a user and receiving a selection of one or more of the descriptors from the user.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising updating the image descriptor database such that the first image feature vector and the selected one of the descriptors is provided as one of the plurality of image feature vectors and corresponding descriptors and reassigning a specificity value based on the updated descriptor database.

6. A system for automatically providing descriptors for images to a user, the method comprising: an image descriptor database having a plurality of image feature vectors, each of the plurality of image feature vectors having one or more associated descriptor, wherein a specificity value comprising an estimation of a degree of description specificity is assigned to each of the descriptors; a controller configured to determine a first image feature vector for a first image, to compare the first image feature vector with the plurality of image vectors in the image descriptor database, and to identify one or more descriptors for the first image vector based on the comparison of the first image feature vector with the plurality of image vectors in the image descriptor database and the specificity value of the corresponding descriptor, wherein the controller is further configured to compare image feature vectors in the database that have a selected associated descriptor in common to determine an estimated degree of similarity between the image feature vectors and to assigning the specificity value to the selected descriptor responsive to the estimated degree of similarity and the image feature vector comprises image pixel data and/or characteristics determined by image recognition techniques.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the image feature vector comprises a geographic location of the image, a time stamp, and/or a user identifier.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the image descriptor database is configured to receive image data and corresponding descriptors from a plurality of users and the image descriptor database is populated with the plurality of image feature vectors from the image data and the corresponding descriptors.

9. The system of claim 6 , wherein the controller is configured to display the descriptors corresponding to the identified image feature vectors to a user and to send a selection of one of the descriptors to the image descriptor database.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the image descriptor database is updated such that the first image feature vector and the selected one of the descriptors is provided as one of the plurality of image feature vectors and corresponding descriptors.

11. A computer program product for automatically providing descriptors for images to a user based on an image descriptor database having a plurality of image feature vectors, each of the plurality of image feature vectors having an associated descriptor, wherein a specificity value is assigned to each of the descriptors such that the specificity value comprises an estimation of a degree of description specificity, the computer program product comprising: a non-transitory computer readable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising: computer readable program code that is configured to determine a first image feature vector for a first image; computer readable program code that is configured to compare the first image feature vector with the plurality of image vectors in the image descriptor database; computer readable program code that is configured to identify one or more descriptors for the first image vector based on the comparison of the first image feature vector with the plurality of image vectors and the specificity value of the corresponding descriptor; computer readable program code that is configured to compare image feature vectors in the database that have a selected associated descriptor in common to determine an estimated degree of similarity between the image feature vectors; and computer readable program code that is configured to assign the specificity value to the selected descriptor responsive to the estimated degree of similarity, wherein the image feature vector comprises image pixel data and/or characteristics determined by image recognition techniques.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the image feature vector comprises a geographic location of the image, a time stamp, and/or a user identifier.

13. The computer program product of claim 11 , wherein the image descriptor database is configured to receive image data and corresponding descriptors from a plurality of users and the image descriptor database is populated with the plurality of image feature vectors from the image data and the corresponding descriptors.